This time, the mess at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama couldn't be pinned on the scary crashes typical of restrictor-plate racing.

Blame it on the rain. The Aaron's 499 was postponed until noon today after a 1-hour, 40-minute rain delay yesterday, leaving pole-sitter Elliott Sadler and Co. to sit idle for much of the day -- only to end up having to return and try again.

It's the first time since the spring of 1997 that a race had to be postponed at Talladega's tri-oval. NASCAR officials and Mark Martin will hope for a repeat of that Winston Select 500.

Martin won a pristine race that didn't have any caution flags -- imagine that -- on a track known as much for crashes as for scintillating finishes.

Held three weeks after the scheduled date, the '97 race still stands as the track's fastest with an average speed of 188.354 mph. It was over in a hasty 2 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds.

Martin's not in bad position for a repeat, qualifying sixth Saturday.

Sadler won the pole in qualifying, followed by Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Dale Jarrett, who won at Talladega in October.

Another driver who likely wouldn't mind a calm race is Jimmie Johnson, lambasted by competitors who blamed him for wrecking 39 cars at two Talladega races last season.

Johnson, who will start 16th, won the season-opening Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., a five-time Talladega winner, will drive a car painted like the famed black Chevrolet his late father piloted. He will start 27th.

Sadler is hoping to finish better this time. He also started first at the October race, but lasted just 20 laps before Johnson ran into the back of his car and started an eight-car accident.

Unable to separate with the horsepower-sapping restrictor plates, cars often race in one large pack.

Other races

NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals: Funny Car points leader Ron Capps raced to his third victory of the year and the 20th of his career, beating John Force by a hundredth of a second in the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. Capps had a 4.793-second run at 319.52 mph in a Dodge Stratus to edge Force, who had a quicker 4.788 at 310.13 in a Ford Mustang. The difference came at the starting line, with Capps leaving in 0.080 seconds to Force's 0.104 seconds.

"I'm in disbelief," Capps said. "I got on the radio and said, 'I can't believe it! We won again!' It's not that I don't have confidence in my guys, but it's just so hard to win and when it happens a lot like it has this year, it's sometimes hard to believe. I love the competition and I love this class. This is just a great time to be racing."

Doug Kalitta and Jason Line also won their division in the $1.5 million event.

Kalitta repeated last year's Bristol Top Fuel final by beating Rod Fuller once again. This time, Fuller's dragster lost traction at the hit of the throttle and Kalitta's dragster powered to a performance of 4.537 at a track-record speed of 331.53. It was Kalitta's 25th career victory and third in the event.

In a battle of Pontiac GTOs, Line earned his ninth career Pro Stock win when he edged series leader and teammate Greg Anderson.

Truck Ram Tough 200: Todd Bodine raced to his second victory in the past three NASCAR Craftsman Series events, leading a group of five Toyotas across the finish line late Saturday night in Madison, Ill. Bodine was followed by Ted Musgrave, David Reutimann, Jack Sprague and Johnny Benson before an estimated crowd of 40,000 who braved rainy and windy conditions.